A/N: The end has arrived. I just want to take the time to thank everyone who has read this, stuck with it, commented on it, etcetera. You are all so supportive, and it means so, so much to me.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the recognizable characters, Valve does. I want to own Nick and Ellis so they can finally be together.

Nick wasn't a good patient. The doctors in Santa Fe could have attested to this, but it was the doctors in D.C. that had to bear the most recent brunt of stubborn crankiness. Between the time his hand was sewn up and the time he got painkillers in his system, he bitched at, groused to, and verbally berated the nurses, doctor, and other various hospital staff members. The respite came when he got the painkillers, but even that didn't last too long, because once he was through the initial happy place, he still slurred cranky invectives to anyone who would listen.

When he was told that he had to stay the night for observation (what with being smacked in the head a few times and surviving a traumatic event), he called the doctor a quack.

When told that Ellis couldn't see him outside the visitor hours, which ended at nine pm, he called the orderly a douche bag. Especially since he hadn't been able to see Ellis before visiting hours ended. From then on out he was known on the floor as a 'difficult patient'.

He slept through the night thanks to some pretty heavy duty sedatives, and after surviving an especially bland hospital breakfast, he was just counting down the minutes until visiting hours began. And unfortunately, in a hospital room there really isn't much one can do when hoping for time to tick on by.

Not that it was much better for Ellis. He'd tossed and turned the entire night, then waited on pins for most of the morning, asking when they could go see Nick. He hadn't seen him since he'd disappeared between two doors, and had had flashbacks to the cruise ships, when he'd disappeared down a hallway and hadn't been seen again. Though his mind was telling him it was going to be different this time, he was still anxious to get to the hospital to see him.

By the time Francis deemed that yes, they could finally go (even if they were going to get there a half hour before visiting hours started), Ellis was the first in the car and honking the horn at the other man to hurry up.

"We're going to be early and we're going to have to wait," Francis grumbled as he climbed in the driver's side. "I hate waiting."

"Well Ro'll be there too, I know she was comin' by this mornin'!" Ellis said.

"But she's always right on time! Never early, never late," Francis complained. "It's going to be BORING."

"So we go to the gift shop an' get Nick some nice things!" Ellis replied, practically bouncing in the passenger seat.

"Nice things from a hospital gift shop?" Francis asked. "The only shit you find in hospital gift shops are corny cards, creepy stuffed animals and dumbass balloons. None of which Nick likes."

"AND flowers," Ellis said, crossing his arms. "I'll get him flowers."

"Nick doesn't like flowers."

"He does too!"

"I'M getting him Scotch, that's going to make your gift look real stupid," Francis announced.

"You can't get Scotch at the hospital gift shop!" Ellis protested.

"I'm getting it AFTER he gets out."

"Francis, you can't show up my gift-!"

"I can do whatever I want!"

They did go to the gift shop, and the selection wasn't all that great. Ellis settled on a bouquet of daisies and a cute card (which had a cat with a thermometer in it's mouth), knowing that Nick probably WOULD prefer Scotch. But he also knew that whatever came from Ellis would be appreciated by the wounded gambler.

They went up the elevator, and Ellis fumbled the flower vase in his fingers, suddenly nervous with what he'd find. While he knew that Nick's wounds weren't life threatening, he was worried that his boyfriend would be morose and sulky. He'd had a hard enough time dealing with a split chin; how was he going to deal with a missing finger? He would have loved to go in by himself, just to have some alone time with his beau, but he knew it wouldn't be fair to ask that of Francis, or even Rochelle when she showed up in a little while.

They found the room Nick was staying in, and Ellis held up a hand at Francis. "Let me go in first."

"Huh? No way, we're going in together."

"I just wanna see him quickly-!"

"He's my partner! I want to see him too!" Francis snapped, and Ellis furrowed his brow at the biker.

"C'mon, Francis, I haven't seen him since he was taken back in the ER!"

"Neither have I!"

"Dammit Francis, I just want to see him first! Just for a little bit! YOU'D wanna do it if it was Ro, and I'D let you!" Ellis snarled. Francis huffed, and crossed his arms. Yeah, Ellis probably would do that for him, and yes, Francis would want to see Rochelle on his own. So he snorted again, and nodded.

"Just don't take forever," he stated, and Ellis smiled at him.

"I won't," he nodded. "Thanks man."

"Yeah yeah yeah."

Ellis gathered some bravery, and stuck his head inside the door. He saw his boyfriend in the bed, looking rather crabby as he watched ESPN.

"Hey! I thought you didn't know anything about sports!" the mechanic said, and Nick turned to look at him, a smile spreading across his face.

"Well, I have a confession to make," Nick said as Ellis walked in the room. "Yeah, I hate sports, and I don't know all that much about them. But I DO know what the scoring's called in each game. I just pretended I didn't because it made you laugh."

Ellis chuckled, shaking his head, and threw his arms around the older man as best he could with a vase in one hand. Nick hugged him back, content now that it was finally visiting hours.

"I brought you flowers," Ellis said, holding them out, and Nick smirked.

"Of course you did," he said. "You can just put them by the sink for now."

"Will do!" Ellis chirped, and Nick watched him place the vase on the countertop. He nodded in a satisfied way, and turned back around to look at his boyfriend again.

Nick was a bit self conscious as his lover looked him over. He certainly didn't look good, but he didn't look terrible either. He had a black eye, more sutures where Creevy hit him with the bolt cutters, and of course even more around his hand. His wound was wrapped in gauze, and Nick hadn't been able to look at his left hand since he'd come out of his painkiller induced stupor. He knew that it could have been much worse, but he still thought he looked like a complete mess.

Ellis, of course, thought he looked absolutely incredible. Nick smirked uneasily. "Jesus, kiddo, don't stare, I look like Quasimodo."

"Naw, you don't," Ellis replied, shaking his head slowly as he walked forward, and kissed him delicately on the lips. Nick kissed back, putting his good hand to the younger man's face.

"So can I come in too or are you going to make me wait in the hallway all day, Motor Mouth?" Francis demanded. Ellis pulled away and rolled his eyes. He would have LOVED to have a couple more seconds just the two of them, as selfish as it might have been, but he nodded.

"Yeah, c'mon in," he said, and took his place in the chair next to the bed. Francis walked in and yelled 'HEEEEY!' as he lumbered on over to the bedside.

"Just couldn't wait to see the damage, eh?" Nick asked.

"Aw bullshit. You look great, Suit!" Francis said, shaking Nick's good hand. "Way to bounce back from death AGAIN."

"I wasn't really near death's door," Nick said. At least, not wound wise. "But thanks, Big Guy. And THIS time you didn't have to give me any blood! So we both win!"

"We sure do!" Francis agreed, just as Rochelle arched her neck around the corner.

"Knock knock sicky!" she called, and stepped into the room as well, making it a bit more cramped and crowded. "How's the hand, Frodo Baggins?"

"Oh you're SO funny," Nick sneered, and she snickered. "I'm deformed and you're making wisecracks!"

"You're hardly deformed," Ellis said, putting a hand on Nick's shoulder in comfort.

"You lose a ring back at the church?" Rochelle continued. "…. Was it the One Ring?"

"Enough with the 'Lord of the Rings' jokes!" Nick snapped.

"I feel like I haven't used my allotted amount," the reporter giggled, and the gambler snorted. "Okay, I'm done, obviously you aren't ready to laugh at it."

"I won't ever be ready to laugh at it!" Nick bitched.

"Psh, we'll see," she said, and finally went over to hug him. "I'm happy you're alright."

"… Thanks," he said, patting her back, even though he was tempted to yank on her hair.

"You had me scared there for a bit," she murmured in his ear. "Bet you never thought I'd be scared for you, hm?"

"It is a bit surprising, I'll admit," he smiled.

"…. Ringbearer." He shoved her away lightly.

"Ro, that's not nice," Ellis chastised, and she shrugged.

"I figure if we make light of it he won't become a huge bottle of angst," she said, winking at the gambler. He gave her a false smile, and then shook his head bitterly.

"So when do you get to leave?" Francis asked.

"They say I can leave at three today," Nick replied, and Ellis practically beamed. "Bastards will probably keep me until five or later."

"With all the bitching you're doing I bet they let you out as soon as they can," Francis snickered, leaning against the sink.

"Yeah, well, that's part of the strategy," Nick said. "At least I won't be here for weeks, like LAST time."

"Yeah, I'm real glad it isn't like last time," Ellis agreed, voice soft as he nodded. Nick glanced at him and gave him a reassuring smile.

"Me too," Francis said. "And, you know, not just because I'd have to give you blood again, or anything like that." He scratched the back of his neck, and Nick chuckled.

"Awwww, how sentimental of you, Francis," he said, and the biker scowled.

"Shut up. Jeeze, try and say somethin' nice and get made fun of," he muttered.

"Kidding, Big Guy," Nick stated. "I appreciate it, okay?"

"Yeah, well, you better!" Francis barked.

Rochelle, noticing Ellis' restlessness, gestured to the door with her head.

"Hey. Francis. Let's go get some food from the cafeteria, huh?" she suggested, making eye contact with her best friend. "I kind of want to get some Jell-O."

"I hate Jell-O," the biker said.

"No one said YOU had to get Jell-O, come on," she said, physically taking him by the wrist and pulling him towards the door. "We'll bring you back something, Nick. You want some ice cream?... Maybe Lembas bread-?"

"Beat it!" Nick snapped, and she and Francis left the room, closing the door behind them. "Christ. Has she always been such a bitch?"

"She's not a bitch," Ellis said, turning the chair to face his boyfriend better. "She's just tryin' to make you not feel sorry for yourself."

"I'm sorry, I was kidnapped and tortured, I think I'm allowed to feel sorry for myself," Nick muttered, crossing his arms defiantly. Ellis sighed, and put a hand on Nick's arm. "I mean, no, I'm not going to be a total pussy about it, but come on. 'Lord of the Rings' jokes? Too soon, man. My finger's gone!"

"…. It really doesn't look that bad," Ellis said.

"Yeah right."

"Really! I can't even notice it!"

"Because it's all wrapped up," Nick sulked. "It's going to look hideous."

"I doubt it," the mechanic said, shaking his head. The gambler exhaled slowly, and chewed on his lip a little bit. "…. I mean, I don't care, if that's what you're worried about."

"I know you don't but I just…" Nick began, and huffed agitatedly. "…. It's one thing to have scars on my chest, that's not THAT big of a deal. It's not like everyone sees those every day. But I can't really hide the fact my pinky is gone. Fucking asshole. I thought the scars were bad, but this? This is… it's worse."

"… Yeah, it's upsetting," Ellis said, scooting the chair closer. "But really. I don't care."

"Yeah, well, you might care when my hand jobs start sucking," Nick groused, and Ellis made a skeptical face. "Because without my pinky-!"

"Nick, you're right handed," Ellis stated flatly. "I don't think this's gonna affect them."

"…. Fine. Maybe not. It…. It just sucks."

"I know." Ellis reached over and took the bandaged hand, smiling at his lover. "I still think you're sexy as hell."

"….. Well, that's all I can ask, really," Nick said, and genuinely smiled at him. "…. Happy I'm getting out?"

"Uh, YEAH," Ellis nodded, and the older man chuckled. "Let me tell ya, it was REAL lonely in that big bed last night. I thought I was gonna go outta my mind. I was real pissed they didn't let me see ya."

"I was mad too," Nick agreed, snorting a bit. "Whatever. Fuck it. Won't matter at three." Ellis nodded, and then let his gaze drop, a frown setting on his face. "… What's wrong, Overalls?"

The younger man shrugged, and then looked back up at his boyfriend. "Yesterday as awful, Nick."

"You're telling me."

"No, I mean, YEAH, I know it was bad for you, REAL bad for you, but I was so scared," he said, brow knit in a worried manner. "I just, I thought….. I thought you were gone." He leaned in as close as he could and took Nick's other hand as well, needing to touch him as much as he could. "I thought that Creevy'd killed ya, an' then when we got to the church an' I saw the Witch I thought maybe she got you first…. An' that I wasn't gonna find YOU, but…. But what she'd left of you." He shuddered, looking down at the floor.

Nick didn't want the younger man to know that he'd been worried about that too. Not that it really mattered now. But he wanted to make the younger man feel better, and so he swallowed down his own self-pity, and moved his face down a bit to try and catch his gaze. "Ellis?"

"…. What?"

"You thought that you were going to find a pile of guts and nothing else…. But you came for me anyway," he said, pulling the kid's face back up and stroking the younger man's cheeks with his thumbs. Ellis wasn't exactly sure why this was significant, and Nick could see the confusion in his eyes. "Just like in the Milltown."

Ellis thought a couple of beats, and then smiled, realizing that yeah, it was like the Milltown. "…I didn't give up on ya, I guess."

"So it would seem… Thanks for that," the older man stated. "I guess when I don't give you reason to give up on me it works out for the both of us."

"I guess so," Ellis nodded.

Nick slyly ran his tongue across his teeth, and pat himself on the lap. "So…. Want to, I don't know… Come up here?"

The mechanic did, as at the moment he couldn't think of anything better than sitting in the bed with Nick, or on Nick. He just needed to be close to his lover after having so little time together post-trauma. "… Can I? I mean, what if someone walks in-?"

"Ah fuck 'em, who cares?" Nick asked, and tugged on Ellis' wrists. Which was good enough for the mechanic. He hopped up, and crawled onto the bed, straddling his lover and wrapping his arms around his back before kissing him fiercely. Nick moaned quietly, and took the younger man into a more fevered embrace, holding him tightly and returning the intensity of the kisses. Ellis smiled as he moved his lips from Nick's and made them dance down the gambler's neck. If he had his way they would have their ways with each other right then and there. He tangled his fingers through Nick's dark hair, and ground his hips down into the other man's, which elicited an excited grunt from the gambler.

"Oh God, kiddo," Nick murmured, thinking this was the best medicine that the world had to offer.

Unfortunately, before Ellis could go much further, the door flung open to reveal Merle Morgan with a dumbass balloon in his hand. "Hey, James Dean, I figured I'd stop by and- WHOA." He turned around, and both Ellis and Nick flushed as the mechanic practically leaped off the bed and sat back in the chair. "Wow, holy God, guys. Are you sure you should be exerting yourself like that, Nick?"

"It's just my hand," Nick said. "And my face. And the concussion-."

"Sorry," Ellis muttered, pulling his hat down a bit.

"Whatever, I don't really care," Morgan said, tying the balloon to the end of the bed. "Though I think I'm going to start referring to you as Sal Mineo now."

"Who's that?" the mechanic asked, and Morgan was going to explain, but decided against it.

"Never mind. So! Nick! How are you feeling? I assume you're sore and crabby," the Assistant Director said, standing at the foot of the hospital bed.

"Well, I WAS feeling that way," Nick smirked. "As you can see, my physical therapy is going VERY well thus far."

"You know, whatever keeps you from pitying yourself is okay in my book," Morgan said. "So. I spent most of the morning trying to sort out this giant shitshow that we all found ourselves in yesterday. Creevy's remains were, um, collected. It's going to be officially on the records that he not only kidnapped you, but that he orchestrated the Infected attack on Roanoke II. Which means you and Francis are officially clear. I also spoke to my superiors, and formally put forth my recommendation of giving you my job."

Nick scratched the back of his head. "What did they say?"

"They said that they didn't see why you wouldn't make an excellent candidate," Morgan replied, and smiled thinly, trying to remain calm and neutral. "I said that they could expect to hear from you once you've recovered. That IS true, isn't it?"

"Oh, well, yeah," Nick nodded, somewhat awkwardly. "Not that I'm expecting much, Morgan, I can't imagine I'm the only qualified candidate who would be applying-."

"True, but from speaking with them it sounds to me that should you apply, you will almost certainly get the job," his boss stated. "In fact, you WILL get the job. And if you don't, they won't hold it against you. They'll just find someone else and this opportunity will go down the drain. No pressure."

"… Do I still have time to think about it?"

"Yes… But substantially less," Morgan said. "Oh they understand that you need some time to heal, to gather your bearings and recover from this trauma, and the job wouldn't start until January anyway. But they'd want you out here in December so I can show you the ropes. So…..They want to know soon. Very soon."

Nick knew FBICE and knew if he didn't confirm or deny his intentions but quick, they would close the door on him. And he had come to realize that he'd wanted this job, if only to make the extra money and to keep busy until he was ready to ACTUALLY retire from working. And there was the matter of not wanting FBICE to start turning into CEDA; he would actively make sure that didn't happen, at least in HIS branch. And it would be kind of satisfying to go head to head with that asshole McCarthy, maybe not on an EVERY DAY basis, but satisfying nonetheless.

But there was also the matter of Ellis, who lived in Roanoke II. Nick also wanted to be with him, no matter what. It seemed to be quite the quandary.

Until he looked over at the mechanic, and saw that his bright eyes were sparkling and that he was smiling, obviously quite proud that his lover was being chosen for such an important position. Nick chewed the inside of his cheek, and raised his eyebrows at him.

"What do you think?" Nick asked him.

"I think…. that you should do it," Ellis replied, nodding.

"But it's here in D.C., your home's in Roanoke-."

"We talked 'bout this. My home's you," Ellis stated blithely, repeating the previous declaration that had made Nick's heart soar once. And of course it made it soar once again, even if he wasn't going to necessarily show it. So he smiled at Ellis, and turned back to Morgan.

"….Yeah, you can tell them I'll do it," he said, and Ellis nodded at Morgan as well. "I'd say they won't regret it, but hey, I might be the biggest pain in the ass FBICE has ever given a real position of power to."

"That you might be," Morgan nodded, and extended his hand to his protégé. "But I'm sure I'll be the one who has to ultimately deal with you, and I'm used to it."

"Fair enough," Nick said, and Morgan smiled widely. "…. Thanks, sir."

"Thank YOU, James Dean," he said. "I know you'll make me proud. Hell, you've already made me proud… Alright, I'll leave you two to whatever it was you were or weren't doing before I came in. I'll see you later, Ellis, and I'll see you when I see you, Nick."

"I'm coming home today, you'll see me tonight."

"Damn, I thought I was getting a longer break from you," Morgan said, and Nick scowled as the oldest man in the room winked at Ellis. "Until later, gents."

Once he'd left the room, Nick turned back to his boyfriend. "So. You'd be willing to move to D.C., huh?"

"Well yeah Nick, I was gonna come with you into the Grey Zone, wasn't I?" Ellis pointed out. "D.C. seems like it's a bit nicer'n that."

"Yeah, a little bit," Nick agreed.

"So you want me here with ya?"

"Sure do."

"…. Dalton too?"

Goddammit, Nick thought, but relented. Dalton came with Ellis, like a package deal. Even if Nick couldn't stand the little fleabag. "Yeah, the damn cat too. But we have to give him a sedative for the drive, I don't want a screeching cat in the backseat for five hours."

"Aww, I don't wanna give my cat drugs!"

"Do you want him to ride in the trunk?"

"… Okay, I'll talk to his vet," Ellis agreed, and then began to grin again. "Oh MAN, now I can't wait to get back to Roanoke II because we gotta start packin'! An' I gotta find someone to sublet my house 'til the lease runs out in March, an' I gotta tell my boss that I'm quittin' soon-."

"Hey, kiddo, we have LOTS of time to plan all this stuff out," Nick pointed out.

"Yeah, I know," Ellis said. But he had some OTHER planning he needed to do, and wanted to get on top of all of it as soon as possible.

Time flew by, and it wasn't too long (at least it didn't feel too long) before Nick and Ellis were packing up the last load of their things for the third, and last, journey from Roanoke II to D.C. Having dropped Ellis' truck off at their townhouse on the last trip, they'd loaded up the BMW as best they could with the last of their things and were now just waiting for Francis and Rochelle to arrive to say their goodbyes. Albeit temporary goodbyes.

"They better hurry up, I want to get on the road in fifteen minutes," Nick grumbled as he leaned against the car. Ellis checked the small trailer that had hauled so much over the years, and gave his boyfriend a chastising look.

"C'mon, Nick, they'll get here soon enough," Ellis said. "It's what? Ten fifteen? We'll get out to D.C. in plenty've time."

"All I'm saying is that I want to be on the road by ten thirty," Nick stated brusquely. "If only because we've timed it out so Dalton's meds wear off around the time we'd be getting to D.C. if we leave then." Ellis looked at the cat carrier in the backseat, hoping that the cat wasn't TOO miffed. And if he was, well, he'd hopefully sleep most of the way.

"I'm just real excited we're gonna get to our new place and be all moved in just in time for Christmas!" Ellis stated, pleased that he and Nick would be spending the holiday together, even if they might still be organizing a bit here and there.

It was crazy to think that it had only been a couple of months since Nick walked into Carlisle's and fallen in love at first sight all over again. And yet so much had happened after the showdown in Washington D.C. After they had returned to Roanoke II, Nick had been told to take it easy and not be in the field as much as he normally would have been, to at least wait until his hand was somewhat healed. Nick, of course, had ignored these orders, and finished out his tenure at Francis' side. Their last day was on November 15th, and the entire group of friends went out to dinner to celebrate.

It was soon thereafter that they had heard of what was going to happen to Barbara for her involvement in the Tank attack. She had been able to plead down to Involuntary Manslaughter, and due to her clean record and repentant attitude she was only going to prison for fifteen months. Ellis said he would visit her once a month for all those months. And it was soon after THAT that Rochelle officially became Wednesday's guardian, and they moved into the house near the edge of town to live with Francis.

Nick was still getting used to his sudden four digits on his left hand. It hadn't quite healed completely, but he was assured that yes, it would, and yes, he would stop noticing it. He wasn't quite convinced, but he was adjusting to picking things up without the help of his pinky. But Ellis had been right: it hadn't hindered his hand jobs in any way, shape, or form. The mechanic could certainly attest to that. And at least his face didn't have any scars on it. Little blessings.

Ellis moved the last of the boxes on the porch into the back of the BMW. He sighed, and brushed his hands off. "Alright. That's it. We're ready." Nick nodded, and languidly dropped his arm around Ellis' shoulders.

"…Feeling okay?" he asked as the younger man gently took his fingers in his own.

"Yeah….. Have some pretty okay memories in this house is all. Gonna miss it sorta," he said, wistfully. Nick squeezed his fingers, and shrugged.

"You'll make more," he said, never quite sure what to say at times like this. "We'll make lots more in D.C."

"Yeah, I know," Ellis nodded, and smiled at him, whatever sadness he was feeling melting away at the thought of it. He was about to say something else, but then Rochelle's Honda drove up the driveway, honking jovially. "Oh there they are!"

The car pulled to a stop, and Rochelle and Francis climbed out. "Well, well, well," Francis said, slamming the car door. "And so the travelers are off. I might just bust out crying."

"Don't make it sound so dramatic," Nick scoffed. "You're joining us after the New Year, it's not like we're going to be apart that long."

"You're ruining the moment," Rochelle sniffed, and winked at Ellis.

Once it was clear that Nick was going to be the new Assistant Director in D.C., Francis had immediately suggested that he and Rochelle move out there as well. He could live on his pension, and SHE had lined up a job to write for a progressive magazine that ran out of Georgetown. They figured it would be a clean transition for Wednesday to start up during the Spring semester. After all, since Rochelle was her guardian, she had to keep the teen's best interests in mind. But they wouldn't see each other at Christmas, a first for Ellis and Rochelle since they'd met. And Francis hadn't been away from Nick since they'd trained together. So it was strange to even have a few weeks apart.

"Where's Little Orphan Annie?" Nick asked, referring to Wednesday.

"CHRIST, don't call her that to her face, okay?" Rochelle snapped, slugging him on the shoulder. "And it's a school day, I wasn't going to let her ditch to say goodbye when we're seeing you again in January. But she sends her regards."

"Well tell her goodbye for me, 'kay?" Ellis asked.

"Of course, sweetie. And she's already hoping to hire you for help with guy advice, Nick."

"Oh joy."

"Do you guys have everything?" Rochelle asked, crossing her arms in the brisk air. "Everything get packed? Do we need to bring some things with us when we make OUR move?"

"No, I think we got everything," Ellis said, looking at Nick. "Can you think of anything?"

"Nope," Nick said. "We're set."

"Well…. Then I guess this is goodbye," Francis snorted, crossing his arms.

"For three weeks, man, we'll see you after the New Year," Nick said, though he too was feeling like something significant was happening here. As if an era was ending. "…. You can always call me, you know."

"Yeah yeah, I know, don't be a pussy," Francis stated gruffly, and extended his hand. Nick took it, and they shook hands curtly, as if they thought if they were curt it wouldn't feel so weird. It wouldn't feel so…. Bittersweet. "Freedom, partner."

"Yeah. Freedom," Nick nodded.

It was Francis who turned the handshake into a hug, but Nick was silently grateful that he had done it, as the gambler wasn't sure that HE would have mustered the courage to swallow his pride and do so. Once they were hugging, however, he had no shame gripping his friend a bit tightly. Not that Francis gripped him any less tightly.

"I'll miss you, Suit," Francis said.

"Three weeks, Francis."

"No, I mean… I'll miss you and me bein' the good guys for once," the biker said, and Nick nodded. He was going to miss it too.

"… You could always come work for me."

"Fuck off," Francis said, and knocked Nick away gently. "Haven't you heard? Some of us retirees like to STAY retired."

"You're getting a job," Rochelle said, and Francis huffed. She then turned to Ellis. "Well sweetie… I know I'm going to see you in three weeks, but will you judge me if I cry anyway?"

"No," Ellis replied, shaking his head vehemently, and he hugged his best friend close. "Man….. Can you believe we've come this far, Ro? When we met in the Vannah did you ever think we'd be HERE?"

"Sweetie, I thought I was going to die, so no," she chuckled, tears falling from her eyes. "But I know what you mean…. I'm really happy for you, Ellis."

"I'm happy for you too," he said, resting his chin on her shoulder. "An' hey! Three weeks ain't too long! An' I'll call ya at Christmas an' then it'll be New Years an' THEN y'all'll be out there with us! Not a big thing!"

"Nope. Not a big thing," she agreed, stepping back and wiping her eyes. She then turned to Nick. "If you hurt him I'll kill you."

"Noted." Though none of them thought there was much reason to worry about that. "We'll call when we get in."

"Sounds good," Francis said, hands in his pockets. "Well, you better get going if you want to get there before rush hour is REALLY fucking terrible."

"Shit," Nick muttered, not even thinking of that. "Oh Francis?"

"Yeah?" the biker asked.

"That box under my bed?" Nick prompted as he walked to the side of the car.

"Huh?"

"The BOX," Nick repeated, trying to be subtle. "The one you said I was just going to take back when I left Roanoke II?"

"…. OHHHH, THAT box!" Francis said, and chuckled lecherously. So much for subtlety. Nick shot him a dirty look, and the biker tried to recover. "Uh, what about it?"

"….. It's all yours," Nick replied, and winked at him before climbing into the front seat. Ellis hugged Rochelle one more time, and followed Nick's lead and got in the car as well.

As the BMW pulled out of the driveway with the trailer latched firmly behind, Ellis leaned out the window to wave to their friends. "Bye guys! See you in a few weeks! I'll miss you!"

Rochelle and Francis waved back, watching the car drive down the street, and didn't stop waving until it turned the corner. Once it had, Rochelle brushed more tears from her eyes. She knew it was silly to get this worked up over them leaving, as she would soon see them again. But she was more crying happy tears that she and her best friend had found the lives they'd longed for, and that their happy endings weren't going to somehow change everything about their friendship. It was rare that that happened, in her experience. So she slipped her hand in Francis', and rested her head against his arm.

"What's in the box Nick was talking about?" she asked.

"Condoms. Lots and lots of condoms."

"Hm. He's so thoughtful to leave those for us."

"Believe me, we use them more than they do."

"Hey, I walked in on them too you know," she said, and they walked back to her car.

As soon as their friends were out of sight, Ellis pulled himself back into the car and sighed. "Man. Even though it's only a couple weeks I'm gonna miss them."

"I know you will," Nick nodded. He was going to as well.

Ellis was going to ask if they could stop for bagels or donuts before heading out of town, but noticed that Nick missed the turn for the East gate. "Hey, Nick, we wanna go East, where are you goin'?"

"Just making one last stop for nostalgia purposes," the gambler said, and glanced over at his boyfriend mischievously. Ellis cocked his head to the side, and made a face.

"Where?"

"I thought we could make a visit to our favorite side street back alley," Nick suggested, hand dropping from the steering wheel and landing on Ellis' thigh. "For one last hurrah of sorts."

Ellis smiled just as slyly as the gambler, and nodded. "I like this idea," he said.

Once they'd parked Ellis flipped into Nick's lap, barely giving him enough time to unbuckle his seat belt before kissing him over and over again. Nick ran his hands up Ellis' back, taking in a whiff of his scent and tugging the tee shirt over the kid's head (though it was a bit cramped and fumbling in the car). Their new life was so damn close he could almost taste it, and as Ellis began to bite his neck and grind down into his lap, Nick moaned and grabbed the steering wheel.

"Oh shit, Overalls," he said, wincing. "I think that of all the places in this hick town, I'm going to miss THIS place most of all."

"We can always come back and visit," Ellis responded, unbuttoning Nick's shirt quickly. "Just come back to this spot for a quick fuck. When I go visit Barbara at the women's prison in Raleigh once a month you can come too, and we can come here for old time's sake-."

"We'll figure that out later," Nick said, and ran his hands up Ellis' back again before attacking his chest with his mouth. Ellis made a lust-filled noise, and ground into his lap again before attacking his mouth with his own.

Nick was about to unbuckle the mechanic's belt, but before he could Ellis pulled away and said, "Hold on. I… I wanna get somethin' for ya."

"Please let it be lube," Nick said, and Ellis snickered as he contorted his way to the backpack at the foot of the passenger seat.

"Well I'll need to grab that too, but I have somethin' else first," he said, heart starting to race a bit. He grabbed the item he was looking for, and held it behind his back. "Okay, now you gotta close your eyes."

"I'm already irritated."

"Oh c'mon, just close 'em for a few seconds!" Ellis begged, and Nick sighed before doing so.

"What I do for you, kiddo," he said, crossing his arms. "We're wasting valuable fucking time."

"You're such a romantic," Ellis muttered, holding up the item in his hand. "Okay. You can open 'em."

Nick opened his eyes, expecting to see the lube or some other kind of sex related object. His lover was getting more and more sneaky after all.

So he was surprised as hell to see that Ellis was holding up a ring box instead.

"… What-?" he began, and Ellis grinned as he popped open the top to reveal a simple silver ring.

"So I've had this since the place scoutin' trip to D.C.," the mechanic explained, shifting on Nick's lap nervously. "I've been waitin' for the right time to ask ya, and I was gonna wait until we moved in, but… I guess I wanna do it now. Maybe it's weird, but it just feels like I hafta do it now."

He knew that he wanted to marry Nick as soon as they'd left the hospital. He may have been sort of kicking the idea around vaguely before that, but after he got Nick back it was solidified in his mind that he wanted to be with him for the rest of his life. So when they went back to D.C. to look for a place to live, he'd gone back to the jewelry store and purchased the ring that he and Wednesday were looking at. He'd hidden it in his toolbox all that time, knowing that Nick would never look there, and only moved it to his bag a few days before, not wanting to risk it getting lost in the move. He barely trusted the moving company with his tools, he sure as hell wasn't leaving that ring with them.

He waited for a reaction from Nick, any reaction would do. But the longer Nick just stared at the ring, the more uncomfortable Ellis had felt. He crinkled his forehead, and tried to smile, even though he was suddenly very nervous. "I just…. I don't know, I've known awhile now that I want to spend the rest've my life with you, so I thought that maybe we could… Well, we could make it official."

"…. Dammit Ellis," Nick said, frowning, and the mechanic's heart plummeted into his stomach. He ran a hand through his hair, perceiving this as a very embarrassing moment of rejection, and closed the box.

"You know what? Just forget I even said anything, I'm fine with how things are, and I understand that you're still tryin' to work through everything that's happened," he began, about to shove the ring back in his bag and never speak of it again. But Nick suddenly took his shoulder in his hand.

"Hey, whoa, Overalls," he said, "what's the-?"

"Things don't hafta change, Nick, I just… I just wanted to maybe…" The younger man trailed off, thinking he'd totally blown it, and his face started to flush. But Nick shook his head.

"No, kiddo, it's not that," he said, and sighed, reaching his hand into his coat.

"Well then what is it?"

"It's… You beat me to it, I have one for you too," he muttered, pulling out a similar ring box and revealing another simple silver ring.

Ellis looked down at it, and then started laughing. "MAN! Nick, you wrecked it!" he said, shoving his lover lightly.

"No I did not!" Nick protested. "YOU wrecked it! This was going to be a HUGE thing for me and YOU went and stole all my goddamn thunder!"

"Sorry!" Ellis smiled, taking the ring he'd bought out of the box and lifting Nick's left hand. "So I'm just gonna assume you're sayin' yes."

"Yeah yeah yeah," Nick said, letting the mechanic put the ring on his finger. "…. Looks weird without a pinky to frame it-."

"Stop complainin'," Ellis demanded as Nick did the same with the other ring onto his finger as well He held his newly decorated hand up, and smiled as he studied it. He'd imagined things could be this way, but now that it was a reality it felt completely different than he thought it would. And it felt even better than he thought it would. "Wow. We're engaged. This is CRAZY."

"You're telling me," Nick nodded, and wrapped his arms around Ellis' back. "….. I can honestly say when I first kissed you in Rayford I never thought we'd get THIS far. What about you?"

Ellis put his hands to Nick's face and looked into his green eyes, green eyes that had always driven him up the wall, ever since he'd first seen them that first time in the Vannah. He smiled gently, and said "Well, maybe never thought it. But… I think that part've me always kinda hoped we would."

Nick smiled slowly. "…. Me too," he agreed, and pulled the kid into a kiss while fumbling with the radio in the car, hitting the button to get some music playing. As the Psychedelic Furs played on the radio, they undid each other's pants and went for that one last romp in their secret little alleyway. Through the hazy and addled thoughts each of them had while making love, both men thought about how far they'd come, and how far they'd go. They had the rest of their lives ahead of them now, and neither man was going to let the other haunt him ever again. And the best part was that they wouldn't have to.

As the finally left Roanoke II and drove towards their new life, they listened to the Furs and sat in satisfied and comfortable silence. They were driving towards a life they both fantasized about. They were driving towards a certain and attainable future they had so badly wanted for so long.

They were driving towards home.

THE END